Intra-examiner reproducibility of probing pocket depth using four types of manual periodontal probes, in vivo

Periodontal probing depth with four types of manual probes in healthy volunteers One trained examiner will measure PD in 20 patients to determine the intra-examiner reproducibility with four types of manual periodontal probes in two times measurements by each patient and each probe (Baseline and repeated measurement) as follows: FIRST DAY: PD on Patient 1 (Baseline), SECOND DAY: PD on Patient 2 (Baseline), THIRD DAY: PD on Patient 3 (Baseline), FOURTH DAY: PD on Patient 4 (Baseline), FIFTH DAY: PD on Patient 5 (Baseline) and Patient 1 (repeated probing), SIXTH DAY: PD on Patient 6 (Baseline) and Patient 2 (repeated probing), SEVENTH DAY: PD on Patient 7 (Baseline) and Patient 3 (repeated probing), EIGHTH DAY: PD on Patient 8 (Baseline) and Patient 4 (repeated probing), the sequence will continue at the same manner until reach the patient number 20. PD is defined as the measurement in millimeters from the gingival margin to the bottom of the gingival sulcus. The study will use a Williams manual periodontal probe (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10 mm Hu-Friedy), Colorvue periodontal probe (3, 6, 9 and 12mm Hu-Friedy); PDT Sensor Probe 2M-12 (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12mm Pro-Dentec, Batesville AR), and UNC 15/23 manual probe (1 to 15mm Paradise Dental Technologies). The examiner will introduce each probe in the interior of the gingival sulcus and following the length of the tooth until resistance will be felt by the penetrating probe. Each patient will have six sites probed per tooth (mesial buccal, buccal, distal buccal, mesial lingual, lingual and distal lingual), excluding third molars. The PD measurements will do using the following criteria: all measurements will be round to the closest 0.5 mm (up or down), when the PD measurements are exactly between two marks on the probe the closest millimeter immediately above the mark will recorded. Each patient will have a minimum of six teeth per quadrant in order to be included in the study. The perfect squares formula will be used to random distribution of probes and areas to will be probed.